Refractory hypertension is a novel phenotype of antihypertensive treatment failure. The terms "refractory hypertension" and "resistant hypertension" were considered interchangeable for a long time and related to difficult-to-treat hypertension. Recently, the term "refractory hypertension" refers to a very small group of patients who do not really reach the target blood pressure for maximum antihypertensive therapy. In this review we discuss similarities and contrasts definition, prevalence, patient characteristics, risk factors, and possible underlying etiologies of refractory and resistant hypertension.

Arterial hypertension (AH), smoking and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are the risk factors for the development of myocardial infarction (MI). Their age and gender peculiarities of AH have been studied only in a small number of epidemiological studies. Aim. To study the effect of smoking status and type 2 diabetes on the incidence of MI in men and women with hypertension. Materials and methods. The frequency of MI in men and women with hypertension confirmed by ECG criteria was analyzed depending on age, smoking status and type 2 diabetes. 28 899 hypertensive patients of primary health care in 20102016 were included in the registry of hypertension. Results. In the age of 2544 the number of visits of men and women with hypertension in primary health care was the same, thereafter the ratio of men progressively had been decreasing with the age. The incidence of MI in men with hypertension is significantly higher at all ages than in women (it is 18.3 times higher at the age of 2544). 37.4% of men and 94.8% of women with hypertension have never smoked. The maximum incidence of MI is in middle-aged men (33.0%) and in old-aged women (14.1%) groups, who stopped smoking. MI developed in 3.7 times more often in hypertensive young-age men group who are smoking than in nonsmokers, in those who stopped smoking 13 times more often. The maxima of the curves of the incidence of MI in women with hypertension, based on the smoking status, shifted towards an older age in comparison with men. Percutaneous coronary intervention / Coronary artery bypass graft surgery was performed 2 times more often in hypertensive patients with MI who stopped smoking, compared to nonsmokers. The incidence of MI in hypertensive patients with diabetes in middle-aged men increased by 1.6 times, in women 2.5 times. The higher influence of diabetes mellitus on escalation of MI incidence in women with hypertension than in men persisted until old age. The incidence of MI was 9.8% in never-smoked, 17.7% for smokers and 28.3% for stopped smoking hypertensive patients with diabetes. In the group of patients who never smoked, the risk of MI increased by 1.8 times in the men group and 2.8 in women with AH and DM. However, the odds of MI development in nonsmoking men and women groups with hypertension and diabetes did not significant. Conclusion. Gender-age characteristics of the influence of smoking and type 2 diabetes on the risk of MI in patients with hypertension in primary health care were disclosed. Such risk factors for MI as male gender and smoking are most significant at a young age. In old age, smoking status no longer affects the risk of MI, while the male gender remains important at all ages. The higher incidence of MI in men with hypertension (18.3 times at a young age) compared to women is explained by both the influence of gender and the higher frequency of smoking (12 times). T2DM increases the risk of developing MI in middle age and older. In hypertensive patients with type 2 diabetes, the incidence of MI is maximally increased in middle age in women by 2.5 times; in men 1.6 times. Smoking in patients with AH and type 2 diabetes leads to an additional increase of MI risk (up to 2.8 times).

The diagnosis of resistant arterial hypertension allows us to single out a separate group of patients in whom it is necessary to use special diagnostic methods and approaches to treatment. Elimination of reversible factors leading to the development of resistant arterial hypertension, such as non-adherence to therapy, inappropriate therapy, secondary forms of arterial hypertension, leads to an improvement in the patient's prognosis. Most patients with resistant hypertension should be evaluated to rule out primary aldosteronism, renal artery stenosis, chronic kidney disease, and obstructive sleep apnea. The algorithm for examining patients, recommendations for lifestyle changes and a step-by-step therapy plan can improve blood pressure control. It is optative to use the most simplified treatment regimen and long-acting combined drugs. For a separate category of patients, it is advisable to perform radiofrequency denervation of the renal arteries.

Combining treatments with antihypertensive, lipid lowering, antidiabetic and antiplatelet effects into a single pill significantly increases adherence to treatment, provides multiple control of risk factors and reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases and fatal events. At the same time, there is still no convincing evidence that the using polypill in cardiology instead of the standard treatment strategy leads to a greater reduction in the incidence of primary end points (total mortality, fatal myocardial infarction, stroke, etc.)